It’s been five months since two children were killed after a dirt hole they were playing in caved in. Police now say they expect to file involuntary manslaughter charges in the case soon.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has been working with the Department of Social Services and the District Attorney’s Office on the case. Now, they’re wrapping up the investigation.

“We’re still finalizing what the district attorney has requested,” said Lincoln County Sheriff David Carpenter.

Investigator Tim Johnson said the only charge they’re looking at for the children’s deaths would be involuntary manslaughter.

On April 7, the two children, Chloe Jade Arwood, 6, and James Levi Caldwell, 7, were killed when the walls of a dirt hole they were in collapsed. The two were cousins.

Officials described the pit as 20 feet by 20 feet with a sloped entrance leading down to the 24-foot bottom.

Dispatch received the initial 911 call around 5 p.m. By 10 p.m. the rescue mission had changed to a recovery mission.

Chloe Arwood’s father, Jordan Arwood, was at home at the time of the incident. He was operating a backhoe on the rural piece of his property on Cedarbrook Court near Stanley.

Arwood has been cooperative with police, except for one thing; video. Police are still looking to get camera footage of that night from Arwood.

Video surveillance and an intercom system were installed around Arwood’s property. Police said he told them the cameras were there so he could watch the children while he was homebound from injuries from a car wreck. The intercom system was so he could communicate with them, police said.

Arwood has yet to give the video footage to police.

“He says he doesn’t know where they are,” Johnson said. “It would be helpful, but it’s not really going to change anything.”

Johnson said the video would help verify the accounts of that night, but that they also have pictures that would suffice.

Police are also still not aware exactly what Arwood was building on his property.

“He’s said it was a rammed earth home,” Johnson said. “The hole was for a basement.”

But, rammed earth homes are generally not below the ground, Johnson said. Rammed earth homes are made with raw materials like dirt, chalk and gravel.

Arwood also did not have a building permit, but Johnson said that’s not the police’s main concern.

Arwood is currently out on a $20,000 bond for pending weapons and drug charges. Police charged Arwood with those charges after finding an AR-15 rifle and a marijuana plant in his home.

Arwood is also a convicted felon for a previous drug charge.

You can reach reporter Lauren Baheri at 704-869-1842 or Twitter.com/lbaheri